Editing Dustin Hoffman (section)

=== 1967–1969: ''The Graduate'' and breakthrough ===
[[File:Dustin Hoffman - Little Big Man.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|170px|Hoffman in 1968]]
Director [[Mike Nichols]] auditioned Hoffman in 1966 for a lead role in the [[Broadway musical]] ''[[The Apple Tree]]'' but rejected him because he could not sing well enough, and gave [[Alan Alda]] the part. However, Nichols was so impressed with Hoffman's overall audition that he cast him as the male lead in the movie ''[[The Graduate]]'' (1967).<ref>{{cite book |last=Shurtleff |first=Michael |title=Audition |publisher=Walker and Company |location=New York City |date=1978 |pages=9–10}}</ref> This role was that of Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who has an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner. It was Hoffman's first major role; he received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for it, but lost to [[Rod Steiger]] for ''[[In the Heat of the Night (film)|In the Heat of the Night]]''.

Although [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] joked that "if Dustin Hoffman's face were his fortune, he'd be committed to a life of poverty",<ref name="life19671124">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA111 | title=The Graduate | magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] | date=November 24, 1967 | access-date=February 21, 2013 | last=Zeitlin |first=David | page=111 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510020202/http://books.google.com/books?id=eEkEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA71&pg=PA111 | archive-date=May 10, 2013 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> ''The Graduate'' was a gigantic box office hit for [[Embassy Pictures]], making Hoffman a major new star at the same time. The film received near-unanimous good reviews. [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] called Hoffman "a symbol of youth" who represented "a new breed of actors". The film's screenwriter, [[Buck Henry]], notes that Hoffman's character made conventional good looks no longer necessary on screen, "A whole generation changed its idea of what guys should look like.&nbsp;... I think Dustin's physical being brought a sort of social and visual change, in the same way people first thought of [[Bogart]]. They called ''him'' ugly".<ref name=Kashner/> Hoffman's success amazed friends from his early years as an actor, who told him "You were the last one I expected to make it".{{r|meryman200403}} Biographer Jeff Lenburg wrote that "newspapers across the country were deluged with thousands of letters from fans", with one example published in ''[[The New York Times]]'': "I identified with Ben.&nbsp;... I thought of him as a spiritual brother. He was confused about his future and about his place in the world, as I am. It's a film one digs, rather than understands intellectually".<ref name=Lenburg>{{cite book |last=Lenburg |first=Jeff |title=Dustin Hoffman: Hollywood's Antihero |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |location=New York City |date=1983}}</ref>{{rp|35}}

''[[Turner Classic Movies]]'' critic Rob Nixon notes that Hoffman represented "a new generation of actors". He credits Hoffman with breaking "the mold of the traditional movie star and brought to their roles a new candor, ethnicity, and eagerness to dive deep into complex, even unlikable characters."<ref name=Nixon>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/18530/the-graduate#articles-reviews ''The Graduate''], ''Turner Classic Movies''</ref> Nixon expands on the significance of the film to Hoffman's career: "In ''The Graduate'', he created a lasting resonance as Ben Braddock that made him an overnight sensation and set him on the road to becoming one of our biggest stars and most respected actors.<ref name=Nixon/>" Hoffman, however, mostly credits director [[Mike Nichols]] for taking a great risk in giving him, a relative unknown, the starring role: "I don't know of another instance of a director at the height of his powers who would take a chance and cast someone like me in that part. It took tremendous courage."<ref name=Kashner>Kasher, Sam. ''Vanity Fair'', March 2008</ref>

[[File:Dustin Hoffman on the set of "Midnight Cowboy".jpg|thumb|right|170px|Hoffman on the set of ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' (1969)]]
Critic Sam Kashner observed strong similarities between Hoffman's character and that of Nichols when he previously acted with [[Elaine May]] in the comedy team of [[Nichols and May]]. "Just close your eyes and you'll hear a Mike Nichols—Elaine May routine in any number of scenes."<ref name=Kashner/><ref>{{YouTube|0x5fJzmqza8|Dialogue scene from ''The Graduate'' between Hoffman and Anne Bancroft}}</ref> [[Buck Henry]] also noticed that "Dustin picked up all these Nichols habits, which he used in the character. Those little noises he makes are straight from Mike", he says.<ref name=Kashner/> After completing ''The Graduate'' Hoffman turned down most of the film roles offered to him, preferring to go back to New York and continue performing in live theater. He returned to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] to appear in the title role of the musical ''[[Jimmy Shine]]''. Hoffman won a [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Performance."I was a theater person. That's how my friends were, too, Gene Hackman and Bobby Duvall. I wasn't going to be a movie star. I wasn't going to sell out. We wanted to be really good actors. I told them, "I'm going out to make this movie. Don't worry, I'm coming right back."<ref name=Biskind/>

Hoffman was paid $20,000 for his role in ''The Graduate'', but netted just $4,000 after taxes and living expenses. After spending that money, Hoffman filed for New York State [[unemployment benefits]], receiving $55 per week while living in a two-room apartment in the [[West Village]] of Manhattan.<ref name="sullivan19671230">{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Dan |date=December 30, 1967 |title=New-Found Stardom Worries Dustin Hoffman |page=15 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/30/archives/newfound-stardom-worries-dustin-hoffman-actor-in-the-graduate-lives.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 9, 2020}}</ref> He was then offered the lead in ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' (1969), which he accepted partly to prove many critics were wrong about his acting range and the variety of characters he could portray. [[Peter Biskind]] wrote, "it was the very contrast between his preppy character in ''The Graduate'', and Ratso Rizzo" that appealed to Hoffman. 'I had become troubled,' recalls Hoffman, 'by the reviews that I read of ''The Graduate'', that I was not a [[character actor]], which I like to think of myself as. It hurt me. Some of the stuff in the press was brutal.'"<ref name="Biskind" /> Critics assumed that director [[Mike Nichols]] got lucky by finding a typical actor with average acting ability to play the part of Benjamin Braddock.

[[John Schlesinger]], who would direct ''Midnight Cowboy'' and was seeking lead actors, held that same impression. Hoffman's performance as a button-down college graduate and track star was so convincing to Schlesinger, "he seemed unable to comprehend the fact that he was acting", notes Biskind.<ref name=Biskind/> To help the director, whom he had never met, overcome that false impression, Hoffman met him in [[Times Square]] dressed as a homeless person, wearing a dirty raincoat, his hair slicked back and with an unshaven face. Schlesinger was sold, admitting, "I've only seen you in the context of ''The Graduate'', but you'll do quite well."<ref name=Biskind/> ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' premiered in theaters across the United States in May 1969. For his acting, Hoffman received his second Oscar nomination and the film won [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. In 1994 the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]] and selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]].<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html Films Selected to The National Film Registry, 1989–2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829144902/http://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html |date=August 29, 2008 }}, Library of Congress</ref><ref>{{YouTube|jnFoaj8utio|''Midnight Cowboy'' trailer}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|AnPcKk3YO3s|''Midnight Cowboy'' winning Best Picture}}</ref> Biskind considers Hoffman's acting a major accomplishment:

{{blockquote|Midnight Cowboy makes us a gift of one of the landmark performances of movie history: Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo, with Jon Voight's Joe Buck a close second. From a cesspool of dark, foul, even taboo material,&nbsp;... it rescues a true humanism that need not hide its name.<ref name=Biskind>Biskind, Peter. [https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2010/04/midnight-revolution-200503 Midnight Revolution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128080444/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2010/04/midnight-revolution-200503 |date=January 28, 2017 }}. ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', April 2009</ref>}}
[[File:Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow - John and Mary (1969).jpg|thumb|170px|left|Hoffman with [[Mia Farrow]] on the set of ''[[John and Mary (film)|John and Mary]]'' (1969)]]

Also in 1969, Hoffman co-starred with [[Mia Farrow]] in the [[Peter Yates]]'s romantic drama film ''[[John and Mary (film)|John and Mary]]''. He received a 1970 [[British Academy Film Award]] for Best Actor for his performance in the film, although the film received mixed reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064513/awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425073859/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064513/awards|url-status=dead|title=John and Mary – IMDb|archive-date=April 25, 2015|via=imdb.com}}</ref> He was also nominated for a [[Golden Globe Award]] for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Motion Picture]]<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1970/all|title= Winners & Nominees 1970|website= goldenglobes.com|access-date= December 24, 2020|archive-date= December 6, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171206173214/https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1970/all|url-status= dead}}</ref> The film was made soon after the success of Farrow's performance in [[Roman Polanski]]'s ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'' (1968), and Hoffman's performance in ''The Graduate'', which prompted their being hailed on the cover of the February 27, 1969, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine as stars of their generation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19690207,00.html|title=Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow|magazine=Time |access-date= December 24, 2020|at=cover}}</ref>